Introduction to Holiday Economics
INTRODUCTION:
For a tropical country like the Philippines, summer is that dreaded time of the year. With temperatures reaching 36 degrees, the favorite is summer capital Baguio City up north or cool, sandy beaches that outline 7,000 plus islands of the archipelago.
But how residents and expatriates all wish that summer holidays can last a week or two.
Enter President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the economist, and tourism czar Richard J. Gordon. Put them together and you get holiday economics. Well, not exactly a two-week holiday but a three- to four-day long weekend is not bad either.
The Arroyo administration introduced holiday economics in 2001 as a means to boost domestic tourism.
In the same year, President Arroyo clearly stated in her first State of the Nation Address (SONA) that she will focus on the services sector, which includes travel and tourism. As a follow through of her SONA, she ordered the revision of the country’s Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) to include tourism as one of its areas of focus.
The concept of holiday economics is something relatively new to the Philippines but is deeply rooted in other cultures. In the Philippines, there are 15 legal holidays declared to be non-working days for both public and private sector. To promote domestic tourism, holiday economics was introduced in 2001. Legal holidays have been moved from the actual date Tied by law for its observance to dates that would promote longer weekends. While the intent of holiday economics have yielded positive results, the business sector has expressed concern on the unpredictability of the dates set for the actual observance of legal holidays.The following are the dates of regular holidays (update: here’s the list of public holidays and declared special non-working holidays for October, November and December 2007, as well as national regular and special holidays for 2008): List of holidays in the Philipines:
New year’s Day (January 1)
Maundy Thursday (Movable date)
Good Friday (Movable date)
Eidul Fitr (Movable date)
Araw ng Kagitingan (Monday nearest April 9
(Bataaan and Corregidor Day)
Labor Day (Monday nearest May 1)
Independence Day (Monday nearest June 12)
National Heroes Day (Last Monday of August)
Bonifacio Day (Monday nearest November 30)
Christmas Day (December 25)
Rizal Day (Monday nearest December 30)
On the other hand, the following are nationwide special holidays:
Ninoy Aquino Day (Monday nearest August 21)
All Saints Day (November 1)
Last Day of the Year (December 31)
Reference: http://jlp-law.com/blog/ra-9492-holiday-economics-movable-holidays/
Holiday economics now a law :
MANILA, Philippines — Holiday economics, or the practice of shifting holiday observances, is now official government policy after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9492 into law.
The law, “an act rationalizing the celebration of holidays,” mandates that most holidays, except those with religious significance, will be shifted to the nearest Monday, said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita who announced the new law Wednesday.
Thus, next month, Ninoy Aquino Day, which celebrates the martyred anti-Marcos opposition leader, normally celebrated on August 21, a Tuesday, will shift to the preceding Monday, August 20.
National Heroes’ Day, celebrated on August 31, will be observed every last Monday of August, which this year falls on August 27.
“Therefore, we have two long weekends for the month of August,” said Ermita.
The “moveable days” are Bataan Day (April 9), Labor Day (1 May), Independence Day (June 12), National Heroes Day (August 31), Bonifacio Day (November 30) and Rizal Day (December 30).
Thus, if Independence Day, June 12, falls on a weekend, it will be celebrated on the following Monday. The same principle applies if June 12 falls on any day except Monday.
Exempted from holiday economics — that is, holidays that will be observed on the date on which they fall — are Christmas Day (December 25), New Year’s Eve (December 31), New Year’s Day (January 1), Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Eid’l Fitre (October 13) and All Saints Day (November 1).
“Good Friday, you cannot move it to Saturday. Christmas Day, December 25, how can you change the birthday of Jesus Christ? Christmas is Christmas,” said Ermita.
The President, who coined the term holiday economics, introduced the policy in 2001 to reduce disruption to business and production schedules, encourage domestic tourism and give employees long weekends.
Critics questioned the soundness of the policy, saying it would result in lower output and affect economic productivity. Others deplored it as presidential tinkering with history via executive fiat.
But National Statistical Coordination Board figures showed that if tourism businesses and related industries increased by 10 percent as a result of the long weekends, the economy would actually experience a 3.5-percent growth in gross domestic product.
Under the country’s labor laws, employers must pay 200 percent of the daily rate to those employees who report for work on legal holidays — January 1, April 9, May 1, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, June 12, National Heroes Day, Eid’l Fitre, November 30, Christmas Day and December 30.
On special holidays, employers must pay 30 percent over the regular rate. These are Ninoy Aquino Day, November 1, election day, November 30, Black Saturday and holidays that may be declared from time to time by the President.
Referene: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=78742
The Myth of “Holiday Economics”
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo usually issues proclamations moving the holiday to Friday if a holiday falls on a Wednesday or Thursday, or to Monday if a holiday falls on a Tuesday. The sole purpose is to enable government and private employees to enjoy a three day weekend holiday. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, coining the term holiday economics, introduced the policy in 2001 to reduce disruption to business and production schedules, encourage domestic tourism and give employees long weekends.[18] In 2004 she issued a proclamation making Christmas Eve as special non-working holiday and December 27, the Monday after Christmas as special non-working holiday.
In July 25, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law Republic Act (RA) 9492 also known as “An Act Rationalizing the Celebration of National Holidays”, designating 11 Regular Holidays and three Nationwide Special Holidays.[19]. Specific dates or days for celebration are designated. The law provides that holidays falling on a Wednesday will be observed on the Monday of the week and that holidays falling on a on a Sunday, the holiday will be observed on the Monday that follows. Three holidays (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Eidul Fitr) are designated as having movable dates, and the law provides that for movable holidays the President shall issue a proclamation, at least six months prior to the holiday concerned, the specific date that shall be declared as a non-working day.
In addition to the Regular Holidays and Nationwide Special Days which it designates, the law specifies that the Eidul Adha shall be celebrated as a regional holiday in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
While Arroyo’s “holiday economics” has been praised for boosting domestic tourism and for encouraging more quality time among members of Filipino families, businessmen are complaining over lost productivity and the hassle of preparing mandatory holiday and overtime salaries in a short period of time. Others deplored it as presidential tinkering with history via executive fiat.
Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_the_Philippines#.22Holiday_Economics
Movable Holidays
PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday signed R.A. 9492 which moves observance of some holidays to the Monday closest to their original date.
If the holiday falls from Monday to Wednesday, observance will be on the Monday of that week. If it falls between Thursday and Sunday, observance will be on the following Monday.
The affected holidays are Araw ng Kagitingan (April 9), Labor Day (May 1), Independence Day (June 12), National Heroes Day (last Sunday of August), Bonifacio Day (Nov. 30), Rizal Day (Dec. 30), and Ninoy Aquino Day (Aug. 21).
This year, Ninoy Aquino Day will be observed on Aug. 20, National Heroes Day on Aug. 27, Bonifacio Day on Dec. 3, and Rizal Day on Dec. 31.
Next year Araw ng Kagitingan will be observed on April 7, Labor Day on May 5, and Independence Day on June 16.
Christmas, New Year, All Saints’ Day, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday will be celebrated on the day they fall. For moveable holidays such Eidl Fitr or end of Ramadan, the President shall
proclaim the day of celebration at least six months in advance
HOLIDAY ECONOMICS:
Late in 2001, Arroyo implemented her new policy which would later be called as “Holiday Economics”. Under this policy, the government will adjust holidays to form longer weekends (Example: If June 12 — Philippine Independence Day — is a Wednesday, the holiday will be moved to a Friday or a Monday to connect with the weekend) and promote local tourism. The policy went into full force since 2002 although critics claimed that it unnecessarily breaks certain traditions (Example: Labor Day must only be celebrated on May 1). Businessmen often complained that the government was always too slow and too late to announce when the holidays will take effect. To this day, people demand that a full year schedule of holidays be
Released.
Arroyo stressed the following as the main purposes of the Holiday Economics policy:
● To enable Filipinos to spend more time with their family.
● To strengthen the Philippine economy by promoting domestic travel and tourism.
When August 29 arrived, people were surprised to see some businesses closed as well as all government offices shut down. As a result, lawyers, labor unions and business leaders organized their own private meetings or gatherings and appealed to Arroyo to put an end to her Holiday Economics policy, which they claimed was more harmful than good. Some believed that the administration declared August 29 as a rushed holiday out of panic due to the fact that Congress was all set to debate and vote on the then pending impeachment case against Arroyo, which happened on September 5 and 6
While Arroyo did not declare an expected 8-day holiday in December 2005 (December 26 and 30 were holidays but December 27, 28 and 29 were work days), many critics pointed at the Holiday Economics strategy as the main culprit behind the decline of the holiday retail sales all over the country. Retailers around the Philippines reported a 15% fall in their December 2005 sales compared to December 2004. Analysts stressed that because of numerous holidays declared throughout 2005, people who went on holiday spent too much on tourism and had not much money left for the holiday season.
Reference: http://www.gloria-arroyo.com/holidayeconomics.html
Holiday Economics: a boost to the economy
( ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE )
The Philippine government may just be on the right track if economic growth and job creation are its emphases. Global travel and tourism is expected to generate US$58.5 trillion in global activity by 2010 and could generate 252 million jobs, according to worldwide industry estimates.
The Philippines is betting on its English-speaking, highly trained workers to contribute and benefit from these expectations.
To give the tourism industry a special focus in the country’s economic blueprint, the MTPDP, indicates the importance of the sector to the country’s economy. Tourism is “geared towards attracting more visitors, extending their length of stay, and increasing the attractiveness of tourist products to encourage travelers to spend more.”
It is difficult to assess solely the tourism sector’s contribution to the economy. Tourism as a service industry is lumped in the government’s economic accounts under services. Services, though, is one of the most promising economics sectors aside from agriculture and industry. Last year, the services sector grew 5.4%; agriculture, 3.5% and industry, 4.1%.
Tourism also has indirect linkages with other industries, including those in the agriculture and industry sectors. These linkages include food and beverage, transportation, utilities, telecommunications, to name a few.
At a seminar on sunrise industries at the UA&P last month, economist Dr. Bernardo Villegas estimated that tourism contributes less than one percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
This is a far cry from Spain where tourism contributes to seven percent to their country’s GDP.
Mr. Villegas, dean of the UA&P School of Economics and a noted optimist, agree that holiday economics was successful because of an estimated 14 million Filipinos who belong to the upper class. He noted a “reversed flow” in tourism, with many of these rich Filipinos spending more time travelling within the country than abroad.
He did not qualify though, if this trend is due to the September 11 incident or because of government policy. He considers tourism, along with transportation and telecommunications, as a sunrise industry because this is an industry where the Philippines can harness its competitive advantage.
Holiday Economics: Financial
Despite these gains and prospects, experts and industry players noted that the Philippines still has to hurdle a lot of challenges if domestic tourism is going to be a driver of the country’s economic growth.Foremost of these issues is precisely the economics of travel and leisure.
One of the dominant issues raised when holiday economics was introduced was inability of most Filipinos to spend for travel and leisure.Forty percent of the country’s 80 million population are estimated to be living below the poverty line.
Instead of encouraging workers to take time off to be more productive in the long run, daily wage workers and even some employers were opposed to the policy. No work means no pay to some workers.
Meanwhile, employers noted that they need the regular work hours to fulfill commitments to customers. If the government declares a holiday, some employers are forced to pay overtime to workers just to fulfill commitments.
The economist, tourism expert and tourists interviewed by BusinessWorld Online noted that even middle-class workers like them do not have enough disposable income for travel and leisure.
Unfortunately, the average Filipino, nicknamed Juan de la Cruz, still does not have the luxury of exploring his own country since his immediate priority is bringing food to the table and providing for his family’s basic needs.Even government workers, were not keen on travelling, even with government incentives.
In Summer 2002, the government tried to persuade its employees to take a vacation by offering them a four-day work week instead of five. Yet, the 40-hour work schedule will not be reduced since government employees will have to work 10 hours a day for some days.
Some criticized the four-day work week scheme since government employees were given options to work either from Monday to Thursday or Tuesday to Friday. With the promise of government that services will not be interrupted, overhead expenses–like electricity and water–were likewise running despite fewer employees on some days. Thus, critics argue that the four-day work week does not work.
A small exploratory study by students of state-run University of the Philippines (UP) noted that financial constraints was a factor in deciding whether to travel nor not.The sample was small though–only 83. Therefore, it was not expected to represent the views of thousands of university employees.
Professor Ramon Benedicto A. Alampay, a professor of the UP Asian Institute of Tourism and adviser for the study, noted that the policy was able to address only one constraint of Filipinos who want to travel–and this is travel time. However, “if people don’t have the means to travel, they don’t take advantage (of the opportunity),” he added.
But he was quick to add another benefit of holiday economics: “They stay at home, spend more time with their family.”However, Ms. Rodolfo noted that even if Filipinos have the disposable income to travel, not all of them will travel around the country..She noted that there is “substitution” between domestic and foreign travel because former is sometimes more expensive.
Even mountaineers and scuba divers Emmanuel Torralba and Leotes Lugo noted that tour packages are still expensive for them, even though they belong to the middle class. However, they have also noted that there are some resort and hotel owners and transportation companies that are already catering to local tourists. Even then, the cost is still expensive.
For instance, travel to Palawan for three nights and three days may cost up to PhP18,500. In comparison, travel to Hong Kong for the same length of stay would cost less than PhP11,000 only.
It is costs like these that still prohibit Juan de la Cruz from going around his own country.
But of course, resort owners would always claim that Hong Kong does not have the same white sand beaches of Palawan. It is a matter of preference.
Professors Alampay and Rodolfo noted that resort and hotels owners, and transportation groups are not yet geared toward domestic tourism by offering tour packages for local tourists.
For instance, Mr. Alampay noted that airline companies in the country still cannot offer budget fares for domestic routes similar to those offered by budget airlines in the USA and Europe.
“No-frills budget air fare (with no food and service) are not yet available in the Philippines unlike in Europe,” said Mr. Alampay. But then again, “such model applies well to business travelers.”
Some resort and hotel owners may be giving discounted tour packages but one resort owner pointed out the danger of giving out bargains.
John Cogul, chief executive officer of Barcelo Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific, said tourists will have to bear the burden of discounts later. He said the cost of accommodations is commensurate to the quality of service that tourists get. Over the long term, if hotel and resort owners practically give away accommodations, they cannot re-invest to improve their facilities.
Barcelo Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific belongs to Spain-based Barcelo Group. It runs several resorts and hotels in the Philippines, including Pearl Farm in Davao City and Sarabia Manor in Iloilo City.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Another issue in domestic tourism is infrastructure.Industry players noted that one of the reasons for the high cost of tour packages in the country is the difficulty in travel because of the lack of infrastructure.Mountaineer and diver Mr. Torralba noted that some service providers, like transport owners, jack up the cost of the local transport during the peak season. For instance, in the Mountain Province in northern Luzon, a favorite destination of mountaineers, jeepney rides to destinations can range from PhP2,000-PhP8,000. The road network has not yet been fully developed so land travel is difficult.
Aside from these, Mr. Torralba and Ms. Lugo noted that there are not enough budget accommodations in some tourist destinations. Mr. Alampay also noted this in contrast with travel around Europe and the USA.
Mr. Cogul said there are attractive tourist destinations even outside the major destinations. Though an expatriate, he takes pride in the Philippines’ natural wonders. However, it takes hours or days and a lot of money to go to these places. Thus, tourists are concentrated in traditional destination areas. Mr. Torralba said when mountaineers like him go to far-flung places, they are prepared to spend a “huge budget.
On legislating holiday economics
By Raul Pangalangan
Inquirer
First Posted 02:29am (Mla time) 08/17/2007
MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has for some time now adopted a policy of “holiday economics,” and ordered that certain holidays be observed on the Monday nearest to the date being commemorated. On July 25 this year, that policy became law. Republic Act 9492, entitled “An Act Rationalizing the Celebration of National Holidays,” is long overdue but the timing couldn’t have been more uncanny.
Just as soon, we celebrate two successive long weekends, namely: Ninoy Aquino Day (traditionally held on the Aug. 21 anniversary of Ninoy’s death at the airport tarmac, and this year to be marked one day earlier on Aug. 20) and National Heroes Day (now to be marked on the last Monday of August, which falls on Aug. 27).
Indeed, until this law, the wisdom of Arroyo’s holiday economics was overshadowed by its sheer unpredictability. Employers and employees alike were left to the eternal guesswork of what holidays would be celebrated when, and couldn’t project their work commitments nor plan their vacations. At the same time, the law reminds us about the place of ritual and symbol in remembering our past and constituting our present.
If I remember correctly, Sen. Richard Gordon initially spoke of holiday economics when he was the secretary of tourism. It will promote domestic tourism by enabling families to take full advantage of long weekends. Otherwise, if we celebrate the holiday on its statutory date, say, a Wednesday, entire families that would have gone on out-of-town vacations would just stay put, and the economy would lose that spike in consumer spending.
Holiday economics, for sure, caters to the upper middle classes that have disposable money available for these jaunts. For the rest of the nation, whether to go to the beach or stay at home depends not on whether there is enough time, but on whether there is enough money. But the experts anticipate at least a 10-percent rise in spending that should, they hasten to add, benefit all of us in the end.
About two years ago, the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines, representing seven chambers of commerce and industry and roughly 1,700 multinational investors in the country, complained about the “unplanned and spur-of-the-moment” announcement of holidays, the lack of any consistent pattern and the “very short lead time” in these announcements. The most severely affected was the manufacturing sector which, in order to meet deadlines, had to incur additional labor costs, increased overhead when fewer workers showed up for work, and delayed deliveries of supplies.
The holiday economics law should put an end to this never-ending guesswork, place the basic matter of work schedules and holidays on rational footing, and move it away from the shifting sands of presidential whim. Without the law, holiday economics was a boon to domestic tourism — and even that was disputed — but a bane to manufacturing and related industries.
I have come across misgivings about the symbolic impact of the law, however. Brand-new Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has lamented that celebrating his father’s martyrdom one day ahead of his actual death diminishes the impact of the holiday. The senator is correct; any deviation from the actual anniversary detracts from the holiday’s meaning. Indeed, if the Philippine holiday economics law will follow foreign practice, what will happen next week is that ordinary people will go frolic on Monday, Aug. 20, but the political classes will hear the speeches and lay memorial wreaths on Tuesday. In a way, sad perhaps but certainly realistic, the holiday economics law separates the celebrating from the remembering. Worse, it disengages the work break of the working classes from the speechifying by the chattering classes.
I have read somewhere that the question for the generation before mine was, “Where were you when JFK was shot?” I suppose for my generation of Filipinos, it would be, “Where were you when Ninoy was shot?” and for the next, “Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001?”
I do remember where I was on that Sunday afternoon in August 1983. I do remember the vacuous look on many faces on campus the next day, incredulous that a former senator, of whom college kids then knew little, had been shot in the head. I remember the confusion and fear in the eyes of some brave (or so I thought) student leaders. I remember visiting Ninoy’s home on Times Street, and I remember walking past the coffin and seeing his bloodstained white jacket. I remember joining the funeral march from Santo Domingo Church, the sustained drizzle that deterred neither the marchers nor the crowds on the sidewalks. And I recall the ridiculous headline the next day about one of the kibitzers, a man who clambered up a tree and got struck by lightning. Yes, a million defiant people marched in the rain for hours to pay homage to Ninoy, and all the cowed papers could report was that a man fell from a tree.
It was easier, more genuine and heartfelt, the first years we commemorated Ninoy’s death. But to sustain our remembering over the years, we have transformed our living memories into ritual, and that is all that is left for the holiday economics law to tinker with.But such is the nature of ritual. We invent it because we want to hang on, cling on, to the memory of a person or an event long after he or she or the event has passed, and we conjure ways by which to recreate that presence. It is necessarily synthetic and contrived, and if we can by tradition agree to do our remembering together on one day, why can’t we by law agree to do so one day earlier? If we have chosen to forget, holiday economics will detract little from the power of rituals to make us remember.
Reference: http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article
It was as if she had planned it. Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo may not have succeeded in electing all 12 of her anointed to the Senate this year. But she did succeed in (1) confusing Filipinos about when the 109th anniversary of Philippine independence was being celebrated; (2) reducing the number of people who attended the usual events—flag-raising, parades, etc.—that commemorate Independence Day; and (3) diminishing the significance of June 12 by implying that it was just another day in which to sleep late and spend at the mall.
Mrs. Arroyo achieved all three by the simple expedient of declaring June 11 a holiday and June 12 a working holiday this year, in accordance with her “holiday economics” policy.
The policy is based on the theory that long weekends and extended holidays could result in Filipinos’ spending more, which in turn should lead to an increase in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Which is to assume that Filipinos have the means to spend more: it’s not that they don’t have the money; what they lack is the opportunity to spend it.
Before anyone mounts the usual soapbox to decry most Filipinos’ limited buying power, however, let’s keep in mind that some Filipinos do have the means, even if others have to burrow through garbage for the next meal.
We call those Filipinos with means Overseas Filipino Workers. The families of OFWs—and they’re growing in number– frequent malls so often they might as well live there. You can see them at MacDonald’s or Pizza Hut or Jollibee at all hours of the day, at the appliance stores trying to make up their minds on what humungous TV set and roof-raising stereo system to buy, or at the furniture shop choosing between the red velvet sofa with the gold-plated legs or the purple one with wooden armrests inlaid with faux mother-of-pearl.
This year the surge in dollar remittances—driven by further increases in the number of OFWs and the weakness of the dollar (Mama, send more dollars; your $100 is worth only P4,500 this year) — should show in increased spending. But note that the families of OFWs don’t necessarily frequent malls only on holidays. For most of them every day is a holiday, and one holiday more hardly makes a difference, except that it does mean that the children can tag along to the mall to make nuisances of themselves.
In crafting the holiday economics policy, Mrs. Arroyo and her advisers must have had the many Philippine holidays in mind, thus their calculation that long weekends would result in this or that much growth in spending and GDP. After all, the country does have more holidays than most other countries in Southeast Asia.
The Philippines also has half-holidays and spur of the moment holidays. In addition to the regular holidays– New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Courage). Labor Day. Independence Day, National Heroes Day, the Feast of Ramadan, Bonifacio Day, Christmas Day And Rizal Day– Wednesday during Holy Week is a half holiday, as is Christmas and New Year’s Eve, meaning that offices are open only from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.
There are also those other, spur-of-the moment holidays (like EDSA 1) that aren’t on the calendar, which drive business firms mad– and which have led some of them to petition the government to schedule extended holidays six months in advance each year. And let’s not forget the four-day workweek, which this summer meant that certain government offices (for example, the University of the Philippines) were closed one day during weekdays.
Holiday economics does make some sense, however. The estimated increase in GDP, as a result of increased consumer spending during extended holidays and long weekends, is 3.5 percent. But it also has its downside, the unpredictability some business firms complain of being one of them.
There’s more. The flap over June 12’s being a working day this year focuses attention on something neither Mrs. Arroyo nor her advisers seem to have considered at all. It is the extent to which the government can move the celebration of holidays around for the sake of economic gain. What about Christmas, for example? One can argue that the commemoration of some holidays can be moved without much harm to their significance. But some, and Independence Day is one of them, can’t.
The reason is primarily contextual. Independence Day should be an occasion for the country not only to recall the aspirations that drove its patriots to rise against Spain and to resist US colonialism. It should also be a day for national examination and, if need be, rededication to the ideals of freedom and authentic development. Both are indivisible from the day itself, meaning June 12 and not 11 or 13.
Despite its frequent lip service to freedom and independence, the Philippine political class has been the last to make Philippine independence meaningful. A hundred and nine years after the proclamation of Philippine independence, poverty and its handmaiden, injustice, haunt the country still, thanks to the incompetence, dishonesty and corruption of a political class that in furtherance of its interests is prepared to trade the country’s sovereignty for aging US helicopters, and the degradation of its environment for the promise of Japan’s hiring more caregivers. It’s no surprise that it doesn’t want to talk about the meaning and responsibilities of independence, which after all it regards as an article of trade.
Referece: http://www.luisteodoro.com/archives/2007/06/15/article-of-trade/
CONCLUSION
Holidays are bookmarks of our nation’s history - a summary record of what we went through to get to where we are now. In a very real sense, holidays are the chronicles of a nation’s soul, reminding us of our collective capacity for greatness and heroism. If we forcibly commoditize them by refusing to ascribe any greater significance to them other than their effect on business, they become meaningless and we end up doing nothing less than murdering our people’s history. Without these periodic reminders of our past, we become divorced from the greatness and sacrifice that made possible everything we enjoy today. Separated from that well-spring, it is only a matter of time before we become nothing more than grey and soul-less tools of industry and economy. We become anonymous cogs in the great machine, easily replaceable and ultimately expendable.
While I understand there are valid economic goals for this law, government must nevertheless understand that it would not be serving the interest of the people by diminishing the significance of these historical milestones. Government must realize that by training people to see history - as embodied by these holidays - as unimportant compared to the government’s all consuming drive to accumulate wealth, it is slowly but inexorably creating a people with no sense of history; in effect, a nation of mercenaries for whom the greatest good is the pursuit of money and giving one’s self over to the pursuit of hedonism.
on more prosaic levels, we must ask these two questions at least:
first, who benefits the most from this law? I think big business will love it best because it minimizes disruptions in their operations (That is a sad commentary in itself. Imagine national observances of people and events who carved out our history having fallen so low in our heirarchy of values that we allow them to be characterized as mere disruptions in the pursuit of making money?). I don’t see any great value to ordinary citizens because not everybody goes on junkets every time there is a long weekend. At a certain level of society, a day off is a day off, regardless of what day of the week it falls on; so what is the concrete benefit of general application by forcing all holidays onto the nearest monday?
And second, why is there a disparity in the treatment of historical observances and religious? the constitution says that no law shall be passed respecting the establishment of a religion. by not touching religious holidays, isn’t the government creating a ‘favored’ set of holidays based on nothing more substantial than religion, in violation of the Charter? This reminds me of those old Flag Salute Law cases involving Jehovah’s Witnesses refusing to salute the Philippine flag. I don’t recall how the Supreme Court ruled in those cases, but I will certainly look it up.
In any case, assuming for the sake of argument that there are valid reasons for this law, I must still take issue with the way it proposes to achieve its objectives. If religious holidays can be respected by the expedient of declaring those holidays six months in advance (presumably so that big business can prepare for the unfortunate disruption), can not the same solution not be made to apply to historical and civil observances?
By adopting the six-month advance notice approach, it seems to me that all interests can be served. Business will not have to be inconvenienced - because they can prepare - and our nation’s history need not be mangled. I think we owe our heroes that much at least.
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